Sustainable housing is fast becoming a priority as cities around the world grapple with climate change. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is taking big steps towards an eco-conscious future. Traditionally, the UAE has been known for its towering skyscrapers and ahead-of-the-curve technology and infrastructure, but now it’s redefining urban planning with its Green Agenda 2030—a framework that places sustainability at the core of development.
In this latest Remitly article, we’ll take look at the UAE’s journey towards more sustainable living, and what that means when it comes to housing. We’ll also highlight some inspiring examples of where it’s happening.
Sustainable housing in the UAE: the background
The UAE has, in the recent past, had one of the highest levels of carbon emissions per capita in the world. While being a relatively small country, with a population just over 10 million, they were found to be the sixth-largest producer of greenhouse gases per capita in 2021. In light of the 2035 NDC agreement that calls on countries to reduce their emissions, the UAE is taking big steps towards creating a sustainable future.
This requires rethinking building from the ground up—everything from net-zero buildings to public transportation and how to best incorporate nature into the city. It’s about more than just reducing carbon emissions and lowering electricity usage; it’s a total reimagining of how urban areas function, and developing them in harmony with the environment, rather than working against it.
What does it mean to build sustainable housing in the UAE?
Sustainable housing combines building practices that are eco-friendly by prioritising sustainability, energy efficiency, and environmental harmony. The UAE is pushing for a greener, more sustainable future, but what does that entail? The answer is a holistic approach, from lower energy consumption and the use of greener materials to development layouts and even putting plants to work.
Passive design strategies in sustainable housing
Passive design seeks to keep buildings comfortable inside without using a lot of energy, working with nature—sunlight, wind, and shade—so the interior stays warm in winter and cool in summer. It’s about taking existing design strategies like building orientation and natural light and expanding on them to maximise sustainability.
Electricity usage for air conditioning, for example, can be reduced by incorporating green roofs—more on them later—and overhangs. Architects and builders in the UAE have also started positioning buildings to face north-south, reducing the impact of direct sunlight. Less sunlight means houses don’t get as hot inside and don’t need as much air conditioning to cool.
Energy-efficient systems
Perhaps the best-known element of sustainable housing is renewable energy, in particular solar panels. Demand for electricity is reduced further through the use of energy-efficient appliances and smart lighting, while using as little power from the grid as possible to bring down a building’s carbon footprint.
As you can imagine, the UAE has almost perfect conditions for solar power. But it’s more than just putting solar panels on the roof; architects are designing sustainable housing to integrate solar panels into the design from the start. This makes the building more aesthetically pleasing while ensuring that the panels are placed where they can make the most of the country’s sunny climate.
Sustainable housing materials
Using as much recycled or upcycled materials as possible, like reclaimed wood or recycled steel, reduces each building’s environmental impact.
Meanwhile, rammed earth—essentially a mixture of compacted soil, sand and gravel with some added stabilisers—has gained popularity in the UAE because of its excellent thermal mass properties. This means that during the day, it absorbs the extreme heat well, slowly releasing it at night, reducing the need for additional cooling.
Water conservation
A particular priority in the UAE, where rain isn’t very frequent away from the mountainous areas. Each household can aim to manage their water usage responsibly by using water conservation technologies.
Harvesting rainwater is a simple first step, but there are more things that can be done to create sustainable water usage. Low-flow fixtures and water-efficient irrigation help minimise water waste, while designing ground surfaces to guide water flow to garden areas or underground reduces the risk of flooding in urban areas. In a time of changing climates, this has become a concern in the UAE.
Greywater recycling systems are quickly becoming common across sustainable housing in the UAE, too. These systems take wastewater from sinks and baths to be reused for flushing toilets and irrigation.
Green roofs and vertical gardens
In a place like the UAE, keeping homes cool is a constant challenge. This means that air conditioners and fans are popular, but they require electricity to operate. Air conditioners also pump warm air outside, only adding to the ambient heat.
But there are sustainable ways to bring some relief. Green roofs warm up far less than a normal roof, improve air quality and provide natural insulation. Not to mention that they can look better than standard roofing materials.
Sustainable urban planning
On a larger scale, urban areas have traditionally been designed so residential, commercial, and industrial zones are separated. This increases the need for workers to use cars to commute. Mixed-use developments bring these spaces together, reducing traffic and commute times, encouraging walking or cycling, and enhancing social interaction. The UAE is trying to incorporate these mixed-use developments into their sustainable development efforts across the country.
Another emerging theme is reintroducing greenery into cities. Cities tend to increase deforestation and are generally known to have poor air quality and a lot more pollution. To combat this, sustainable urban planning incorporates vegetation in any areas where it’s possible; lining the streets with trees, creating green corridors to link parks and natural spaces, and using rooftop gardens.
This works: the greener a city is, the cleaner its air and the lower its average temperatures.
Net-zero buildings
The ultimate goal of sustainable housing is designing structures that produce as much, or more, energy than they consume. By reducing electricity and water usage and bringing in renewable energy sources, sustainable housing should be able to support itself entirely.
That’s not all; since traditional concrete and steel have high carbon footprints, just creating the building has considerable environmental impact. The very latest sustainable housing tries to offset this as much as possible by using materials like algae-based concrete and biochar-infused cement. These materials convert the production of cement, a typically high carbon-emitting process, into a carbon-neutral, and sometimes even carbon-negative, process.
None of these themes are unique to the UAE, but in a country that’s already famous for some spectacular architecture, Emirati innovation is helping to reshape the way we think about sustainability.
Destination: Innovation
Since learning about climate change and our impact on the environment, the world has thought about how to move away from fossil fuels and find alternative ways to power housing, vehicles, and even cities. There have been all kinds of incredible innovations by the scientific community the world over, and the UAE is no exception.
The world’s first sustainable housing urban development
Masdar City is the world’s first sustainable housing urban development, launched in 2008 by the UAE government. Currently, 15,000 residents and office commuters call Masdar home and enjoy its eco-friendly lifestyle. New sustainable features are still planned as part of the UAE’s net-zero by 2050 ambitions.
Masdar City was a bold idea. It was declared a “car-free” city, offering driverless electric pods for transport and hosting a remarkable renewable energy hub. It hasn’t, of course, been all smooth sailing, but the project has provided valuable lessons for future developments
Converting concrete: turning waste into construction materials
The new cement types we mentioned earlier aren’t the only experiments with alternative construction materials going on in the UAE. A Dubai-based collective, ARDH, are reimagining building materials, for example.
ARDH has found a golden opportunity, quite literally, in repurposing desert sand into DuneCrete, a low-carbon concrete alternative. Alongside that, they’ve also created DateForm, a solid, colour-customisable surface material made entirely from discarded date seeds.
Finding uses for things that have previously been thrown away is the type of innovation in sustainable housing that’s going on around the UAE.
The world’s largest solar park
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is one of Dubai’s key initiatives to achieve their clean energy strategy. It has a planned capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030, and it’s currently at 2,680 MW.
This massive solar park is situated in the desert, which provides the perfect conditions. It not only generates electricity for Dubai at relatively low costs, it’s also being used to power desalination plants to provide fresh water for human consumption.
Showing what’s possible
By rethinking the way homes are built, powered, and lived in—from net-zero buildings and passive design strategies to cutting-edge materials and massive solar projects—the UAE is showing the world what’s possible when sustainability is made a priority.
Whether you’re living in the Emirates, planning to move, or just looking for ideas on how to make your home more eco-friendly, there’s a lot to learn from what’s going on in sustainable housing in the UAE.
FAQs
What was the UAE Year of Sustainability?
2024 was declared the Year of Sustainability in the United Arab Emirates to inspire sustainable practices and collective action amongst the population.
Are sustainable homes more expensive in the UAE?
Short answer: at first, yes. Sustainable homes include new technologies for saving water and electricity, use high-quality materials and improved, eco-friendly designs. These will cost homeowners more initially, but will reduce costs for water and electricity significantly over time.
What are the benefits of living in a sustainable home in the UAE?
Sustainable housing offers many benefits: improved air quality, reduced costs on bills for water and electricity and may even improve mental health. There are also, of course, massive benefits to the environment in pursuit of reducing carbon emissions and slowing global warming.
How can individuals get involved in sustainability initiatives in the UAE?
You can find information on how to volunteer and where to find events near you on the UAE Year of Community website.
How is the government supporting sustainable housing in the UAE?
The government has put regulations in place, and launched initiatives like the Green Agenda 2030 that promote key areas of sustainable housing: green building standards, renewable energy, and sustainable urban planning.